Relations between City Council and Brockton mayor turning 'toxic'

Monday

Mar 3, 2014 at 6:00 AM

Lawsuit brought by Mayor Bill Carpenter gives glimpse of tensions between two branches of municipal government

BROCKTON – City councilors have been left “surprised” and “disappointed,” and one expert described the situation as “toxic” after Mayor Bill Carpenter decided to take the council to court after a recent Water Commission appointment.On Feb. 6, Council President Robert Sullivan appointed Kathryn Archard to the Water Commission and announced that he planned to make another appointment to the board in the near future.

However, Carpenter is now seeking an injunction in Brockton Superior Court to invalidate Archard’s appointment and prevent the council president from making any future appointments to the five-member commission.

While Carpenter is arguing that a 1996 ordinance that allows the council president to appoint two members to the commission violates state law, Michael Kryzanek, the executive director of the Minnock Center for International Engagement at Bridgewater State University, said the litigation has become a distraction to the city.

“The situation that has occurred now is taking attention away from the matters that are really important to Brockton and putting attention on the intergovernmental jockeying for power and influence,” Kryzanek said.

Since councilors were notified about the request for injunction by their attorney on Monday night, many councilors have expressed frustration that Carpenter did not discuss his opposition to the appointment prior to seeking the injunction

Adding another wrinkle to the controversy is who Sullivan appointed.

Archard, a member of the grassroots organization Stop the Power, was one of Carpenter’s biggest detractors during the campaign, participating in radio ads and other forms of negative campaigning against him.

“I’d say there were some raised eyebrows,” said Ward 2 Councilor Thomas Monahan on Archard’s appointment to the Carpenter administration.

While Bob Buckley, Carpenter’s chief of staff, has stated that the mayor is only seeking the injunction so that the court can settle a perceived discrepancy between state law and the city ordinances, some councilors are skeptical that the appointment of Archard wasn’t a factor.

“I’m sure it had something do with it, but I thought he (Carpenter) would be a bigger man in realizing that he wouldn’t have 100 percent support of the votes,” said Councilor-at-large Moises Rodrigues.

Ward 5 City Councilor Dennis DeNapoli expressed a similar sentiment.

“The mayor should just sit back a little bit and not take it so personal,” DeNapoli said.

However, Kryzanek thinks Carpenter and the council are both at fault.

“I place the blame on no one in this instance. It’s on everyone,” said Kryzanek. “It’s wasting money and time.”

When asked if the fact that it was Sullivan, who has been viewed as a potential candidate in the next mayoral election, who made the appointment might have had something to do with the injunction request, Kryzanek said it was possible.

“There are always people ready to put their hat in the ring down the line,” Kryzanek said.

Ward 1 City Councilor Timothy Cruise thinks the litigation has exacerbated the tension between the city’s elected officials.

“I’m disappointed to hear that the mayor thinks the City Council is not trying to work with him,” said Cruise.

Despite the rough patch, Councilor-at-large Jass Stewart expects both sides will be able to put the situation behind them.

“I’m sure we will all work through it, and that we will remain focused on the people’s business,” Stewart said.

Ward 3 Councilor Dennis Eaniri put the situation in bleaker terms.

“It’s sort of like you started to draw a little bit of a line in the sand between the mayor’s office and the City Council,” Eaniri said.